Orange County Digest

Anaheim : Angels File Two More Claims Against City

The California Angels have filed two more claims against the City of Anaheim, making way for additional lawsuits in the ongoing feud between the baseball team and the city.

One claim demands about $5,000 in revenues from 50 free parking passes that city officials and their guests use during Angels games. In the other, the Angels protest a 100% increase in rent from the 26,000 seats built in 1980 and demand payment of $136,000. Both claims were filed Tuesday.

Of the first claim, Angels spokesman Michael Schreter said Wednesday that the city has "no right to that parking lot."

Anaheim Public Information Officer Sheri Erlewine said the city has the right because it "owns the place."

"The Angels simply lease it from us," Erlewine said.

Schreter, vice president, secretary and treasurer of the Angels, likened Erlewine's explanation to landlords who lease an apartment to a tenant but park there themselves.

"They have leased that parking lot to the Angels," Schreter said. "The ones who have a right to that parking lot are the California Angels."

Of the $10,000 that the 50 free $200 books would generate, the Angels have a right to 50%--or $5,000, Schreter said.

In their other claim, the Angels demand about $36,000 in ticket money and $100,000 in concession money. The demand is made, Schreter said, because of "the improper way the city has doubled our rent without the right to do so."

Last year, the city doubled the percentage--from 7.5% to 15%--that it receives from sales of tickets for the seating area built in 1980, said Jack White, Anaheim's acting city attorney.

White said that in addition to the two claims filed Tuesday, the Angels have an earlier claim and three lawsuits pending against the city. Should the Anaheim City Council not accept the latest claims, the Angels have the option to convert them to lawsuits, he said.